Chinese Green Onion Pancakes

Allen Williams

A flattened piece of dough stuff with green onions, then rolled into a straw, which is once again rolled into the flower bud shape in the photo above. Sadly, the bud isn’t the final step but it is next rolled flat and fried.

Savory and crisp on the edges, Chinese green onion pancakes can be eaten on their own or alongside a saucy dish or stew. I prefer to nibble on them fresh from the frying pan along with a cold beer.
A favorite snack in our household, it wasn’t until recently that I attempted to make green onion (scallion) pancakes. I came across Diana’s recipe, along with amazing step by step photos, which made the whole process seem manageable.

The recipe uses only a few ingredients, many of which you already have in your cupboard. Two doughs are made initially in separate bowls, then later merged together and allowed to briefly rise. The final dough is easy to work with and rolls effortlessly.

I rarely take the time to snap photos while making food, especially when I have flour strewn across every surface from floor to ceiling. However, the rolled dough looked so interesting that I couldn’t resist getting flour all over my camera too.

Make sure to work quickly while rolling out the dough and be careful about stacking the rolled pancakes. As they sit and become warm, they may tend to stick together.

The recipe makes quite a few and I froze nearly half of them for later use. I placed waxed paper squares between each pancake (unfried) then wrapped the lot and placed in the freezer.

When frying the pancakes, use plenty of oil so that each one is perfectly crisp and golden. I’ll admit that I skimped on the oil and burned a few pancakes in the process (i.e as I mentioned recently, pancakes are not my strength).

The pancake flavor is spot-on delicious. I haven’t tapped into the frozen stash yet, but intend to do so soon.

These are soooo pretty!! I’ve always wanted to try making them myself. You’ve inspired me to give it a go.

hannah yoonJuly 21, 2009, 2:28 pm

just made these and they are easy to make! luckily i had some yeast on hand. they were really good and i’m literally making a second batch right now (waiting for the dough to rise)! koreans make a similar dough that we like to fill with sugar in the center and fry so the sugar will melt and become gooey. this second batch i’m making will be half scallion and half raw sugar…sweet and savory! i also used a mixture of soy sauce and white vinegar and red pepper flakes as a dipping sauce or hoisin sauce i think would be a nice touch. thanks for sharing! my family thanks you too :D

Thanks for posting that one! I have had a similar recipe for that in my to make *pile* for some time, I had forgotten about it. Maybe ‘cuz my *pile* is really a mountain. I’d better get busy, thanks for the motivation :)

This looks so good! i love working with recipes where you have to roll the circles of dough like a jelly roll, then coil them into a spiral and flatten. I don’t know why but I like that process:) We make something similar in Azerbaijan, but instead of green onions we laminate the dough with spiced butter. I should give this Chinese recipe a try. Looks so good!